Mixtape of the Week: K’ La –The Coldest Winter Ever

Who knew Gary, Indiana, of all places, was such a hotbed of rap? I wouldn’t have guessed it, but there must be something in the water. K’ La joins Freddie Gibbs as one of the GI’s top ambassadors as she sings and raps her way through The Coldest Winter Ever. Honest, and introspective in all the ways that most rappers aren’t, K’ La impresses with her debut, which explores love, being left, raising kids in material America, and trying to break into the game.

When I say K’ La raps and sings, I really do mean she does both well. She is not like some femcees whose rapping overwhelms her singing (here’s looking at you Minaj) or vice versa. She is genuinely versatile, smoothly transitioning between crooning and rapping in a style reminiscent of Lauryn Hill, not to drag K’ La into that tired old comparison.

K’ La also shifts equally comfortably through subject material. She plays the angry lover, the loving girlfriend, the up-and-coming artist, the struggling mom. She is able to switch around so comfortably because of she is unrelentingly down-to-earth. This is best typified by the tape’s standout song “Who I Am,” an unflinching, soulful reflection upon her personal development.

Overall, it’s an exciting start for K’ La, and now that she’s out of The Coldest Winter Ever, I think it’s only a matter of time before she gets hot.

Cop it from her site: http://www.klathelyricist.us/download-music

-Trap Yates '14